Staggeringly, around 150 people a day are reported missing in London. Putting a huge strain on the resources of the Metropolitan Police. London Search & Rescue is a specially-trained voluntary organisation set-up 3 years ago to assist the Police in the search of missing vulnerable people within London, and beyond.
A vulnerable missing person could be a of any age, such a child that has just lost their way or adults that have Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Autism for examples or someone who is considering taking their own life. In each case, an emergency response is vital. Having the correct equipment, skills and training to respond to these emergencies is crucial ‘every second really does count!”
Having an ICU or Incident Control Unit is one of the most important pieces of kit enabling London Search & Rescue to quickly respond to a missing person’s emergency. The ICU is the control centre of the search, equipped with key technical equipment enabling skilled search managers to organise where to send the volunteers to search for the missing person, medical equipment and act as radio command between searchers and the police.
Each missing person has their own characteristics and having a fully equipped ICU is crucial to enable the search team to quickly locate and deploy searchers to the most likely areas where they may be found.
Thanks to the London Freemasons Charity who recently awarded a £5,000 grant to fully equip the first incident control vehicle helping London Search & Rescue to quickly deploy search teams at the location of the missing person and hugely increase the chance of saving that person’s life.
Steve McGowan – Operations Director – “The support given by the London Freemsons Charity will help us make a positive difference. Having access to an Incident Control Unit has improved London Search & Rescue operational capability immensely in our support to the Metropolitan Police and the families of those missing people we are tasked to try and find inLondon.”
London Masons Charity Steward Tony Shields commented: “London Masons are delighted to be able to help in this vital Search and Rescue facility for London, this is just one of the recent London Freemasons Charity grants to support a wide range of London based charities. This grant follows on from a recent £2.5 Million to fund two ultra-high aerial platforms, six rapid response vehicles and four bariatric stretchers and earlier generous donations of £3 million to Bart’s hospital for the purchase of a Cyberknife and £2 million donation towards the second London Air Ambulance, all of which contribute to saving lives right across this great capital city.”
